Golden Pavilion

Japan's history is fascinating and the country has done a great job preserving historic landmarks such as this beautiful gold covered temple in Kyoto. It exhibits Japan's characteristic architectural style and garden design that amplify the feelings of serenity and peace.

I reached here late in the evening but was glad to see good lighting conditions. The gold on the temple walls reflects sunlight and is best photographed using long exposure to smooth out ripples on the water.

Tripods are not allowed inside temple premises, but I managed to shoot this image before I was asked to keep the tripod away.

I had a wonderful visit to Japan during late summer of 2013 and got to see both it's historic and modern faces. Kyoto was my destination of choice to see old temples and shrines of Japan and I focused on Tokyo to witness it's modern lifestyle. Below are a few images from the trip. I was thoroughly impressed by how well Japan's public transportation worked and how easy it was for me to visit all these places. Being mostly a vegetarian eater, I was a bit concerned about the food at first but was pleasantly surprised by abundant and excellent food choices available. Japan is a country everyone should visit at least once. There is so much to learn from it's culture and day to day life practices of Japanese people such as their approach towards conservation, food and emphasis on being polite.
Link to sites I visited